


Into the Woods

by veleda_k



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Dreams, F/F, Fairy Tales, Fractured Fairy Tale, Little Red Riding Hood - Freeform, Teen Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-31
Updated: 2012-07-31
Packaged: 2017-11-11 02:46:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/473632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veleda_k/pseuds/veleda_k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are witches in this forest, and nothing is what it seems. Utena may not be ready for what she finds.</p>
<p>Written for 10tropes on Dreamwidth, for the prompt "fractured fairytale." Thank you to cleo_eurydike for betaing. Title from the Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Woods

Utena walked down the forest path, unsure of her destination. The night air was chilly, and she could feel goosebumps beginning to form under her uniform jacket.

She was alone, and the forest was quiet, so quiet that the sound of her footsteps was the only noise. Forests weren't supposed to be that quiet, right? There should be owls and squirrels, or wind.

When she was young, Utena and her aunt went to Kasugayama Primeval Forest to visit the Kasuga Grand Shrine. The ancient trees had stretched so tall that in Utena's young mind, they seemed to touch heaven. The air had had been thick with the smell of dirt, cedar, and rotting greenery. The leaves had rustled, and while Aunt Yoriko had assured Utena it was only squirrels and tanuki making the noise, Utena had heard stories of wild boars, and clung to her aunt. She had seen plenty of photographs in her textbooks as well, that showed forests from all over the world. This forest didn't look anything like those. It was too symmetrical; the dirt path beneath her feet was too tidy. The absolute silence was more unnerving than the rustling leaves had been all those years ago. And the trees weren't the mighty, moss covered things she remembered from Kasugayama. They looked more like the idea of trees, as if someone had drawn out what they thought a tree should look like. They leaned slightly, framing the path as perfectly as if someone had placed them there. When Utena thought about it, she realized that it all looked almost exactly like the illustration inside her favorite book of fairy tales.

"But where do you go from there?" A familiar voice broke the quiet, soft but ringing out clearly. 

Utena turned, startled. Just off the path stood Himemiya. Himemiya was there, and she was a tree. Utena shook her head. No, of course not. Himemiya was standing _next to_ a tree. It was only the shadows and the moonlight that had made her look like part of the forest, wild and old. "Do you know where we are?"

The look on Himemiya face gave nothing away. It was an expression Utena was used to. "You're the one who brought us here."

"No I didn't." That was ridiculous. She would remember something like that. Actually, the last thing she remembered was talking in bed with Himemiya. 

She should have been frightened—in a strange place with no idea how she got there—but she wasn't. Himemiya didn't appear worried either, but it took a lot to faze Himemiya. Utena looked down the path, then blinked. A minute ago, she would have sworn the path was straight, but now she could see that it forked in two directions. She shouldn't have missed that---it was a clear night—but somehow she had. Looking to Himemiya, she gestured at the path. "What's that?" It seemed right that Himemiya would know.

"The path of pins and the path of needles," Himemiya replied. 

"Where do they go?"

"The same place."

"Then it doesn't matter what I pick?"

The moonlight glinted off Himemiya's glasses, obscuring her eyes. "Which will you choose?" 

That wasn't an answer, but answering questions by not answering them was another thing Himemiya tended to do. Utena shrugged. "The path of pins, I guess." Nothing wrong with pins.

"Then I'll take the path of needles."

"You're being weirder than normal," Utena muttered.

Himemiya smiled and turned to go.

"Wait!" Utena exclaimed. She thought of the wild boars she had feared in childhood. "Are there any wild animals in these woods?"

"Just one," Himemiya said without looking at her. "But you don't need to fear her yet." With that she started down the path and was quickly gone from sight.

"Right," Utena huffed. "That's helpful." Still, she couldn't stand in place all night, so she began walking. It wasn't hard hard for her to find her way in the dark. The moon hung full in the sky, casting a silvery light across the path.

As she moved deeper into the forest, it became less picturesque. The trees grew gnarled and twisted, and the bright moonlight was blocked by heavy branches. Utena had to struggle to stay on the path, which had become rocky and uneven. She had to stay on the path, she knew that much. Never leave the path. She thought of stones, and breadcrumbs, and witches offering sweets.

Finally, she arrived at a small clearing. Just up ahead, covered in shadow, was a slight human figure. "Himemiya?" Utena called out. 

"You made it." It was Himemiya's voice.

"So, the path of needles was faster?"

"No," Himemiya said blankly.

Utena looked around. "It was so pretty before. Now it's kind of scary."

Himemiya shrugged, or at least Utena thought she did. In the dark it was hard to tell. "The idea of the thing is safer than the thing itself." She stepped into the light. Her hair was unbound and...

"Why aren't you wearing your glasses?" Utena asked, because _Why are you naked?_ was simply too big a question. She felt her face grow hot, and tried to ignore the heat that was forming in other areas as well. 

"The better to see you with," Himemiya answered. Which didn't make any sense, because how could Himemiya see better without her glasses? Utena felt a hundred questions rise inside her, but the green of Himemiya's eyes was bright and cold in the moonlight, and the words caught in her throat. "I think..." She struggled to find her voice. "I think there are wolves in this forest."

Himemiya looked at her, no, looked _into_ her. "Or witches."

And in that moment Utena understood far too much and far too little. "Are you a wolf," she asked, unable to force her voice above a whisper, "or a witch?"

The moonlight and shadows mingled on Himemiya's skin, making strange patterns. She smiled with nothing like her usual sweetness. "Yes."

She was dangerous, dark, and lovely, and Utena kissed her. She was the most beautiful, most terrifying thing Utena had ever seen, and she couldn't imagine not kissing her. Himemiya's bare skin was soft and real against her hands, and it should have been embarrassing and awkward, but it wasn't.

With surprising strength, Himemiya pushed Utena to the ground. The grass was cool under Utena's skin, and she realized that she was naked as well. She felt like she should find that strange, but after castles in the sky and magic swords, why should this be odd? Besides, Himemiya was touching her, and there was nothing else to think about.

Himemiya leaned over Utena, her hair falling down like a soft, heavy curtain. Utena reached up and cupped Himemiya's breast in her hand. "I--" _I don't know how to do this._

"It's all right," Himemiya murmured. She kissed Utena's stomach. "Tell me what feels good." She left a trail of kisses up Utena's body until she reached her breasts. She placed her lips around one of Utena's nipples and sucked lightly. 

Utena whimpered. "Yes. That, please."

Himemiya was so gentle, that under her touch, Utena felt like she must be fine crystal, on the verge of shattering. It came as a surprise when Himemiya rested two fingers against the side of Utena's thigh. Himemiya looked at her with the concerned expression. "Do you want me to stop?"

Utena shook her head violently. "No, please, I want..." She didn't know what she wanted. She just knew that Himemiya could give it to her. Himemiya nodded, and then she was inside Utena, and it felt strange, and frightening, and oh so right. Himemiya's fingers were strong and tender, and it might have been minutes or hours before the pleasure overcame Utena and she came with a jagged cry. Shaking, she sat up. Himemiya was gazing at her, grass in her hair, but otherwise untouched. It made her seem distant, not quite real. Utena swallowed. "Lie back? Please? I want to..." _Honor you, worship you, love you. I want to bring you here with me._ She had lost all her words this night. 

Silently, Himemiya lay back, her eyes never leaving Utena's own. Utena knelt between her spread knees. She wasn't sure she could do this right, but she had to try. Hesitantly, she tasted Himemiya. She was clumsy and sure her inexperience showed, but Himemiya moaned and moved, so Utena kept going until her limbs were stiff and her jaw was aching, but she didn't feel any of it, she just felt Himemiya warm and wet beneath her. 

Finally, Himemiya shuddered, gasped, and slowly sat up. Her skin shone with sweat and her breath was rough as she pulled Utena close. 

"I love you," Utena said, trembling as she spoke. 

Himemiya stilled and was silent for a long moment. "I've forgotten how to be loved." She sounded very old.

Utena hugged her tightly. "I'll remind you."

Himemiya searched Utena's face. "I wonder what you'll think of this when you wake up?"

"Wake up? What do you mean wake--"

Utena opened her eyes and squinted in the too bright morning light. "What time is it?" She peered at the clock. "Ugh, why didn't someone wake me up?"

As she was getting dressed, Himemiya came into the room. She looked, well, normal. Tidy uniform, hair pinned up, and her usual sweet smile. "Breakfast is nearly ready, Utena-sama."

Utena looked at the floor. "That's great, thanks."

"Utena-sama, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go ahead and start without me, okay?" Once Himemiya was gone, Utena groaned. Man, today was going to be awkward. And she definitely couldn't talk to Himemiya about it. How could she tell her friend that she had had _that_ kind of dream about her? Utena thought about playing sick and staying in her room, but she realized that Himemiya would insist on taking care of her. So, she gathered her courage and went out to find Himemiya laying out breakfast. Since it consisted entirely of actual breakfast items, Akio-san had probably made it. 

"It looks really good," Utena said, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt.

Akio-san smiled modestly. "I hope it tastes good as well." He looked closely at her and frowned. "Are you all right? You look tired."

Utena blushed. "I just had a weird dream, that's all."

"Dreams can be important," Himemiya told her. She looked like she wanted to say more, but Akio-san spoke up.

"I think dream interpretation is too fanciful. Most dreams don't mean anything." He placed a comforting hand on Utena's shoulder. "You can forget about it, Utena-san."

"Be quiet!" 

Utena snapped her head around at Himemiya's uncommonly sharp tone to see her friend shaking her finger at Chu-Chu. "You know better than to cry so loud this early in the morning. You'll disturb everyone else."

Utena grinned. It was so like Himemiya to be concerned for them. "Well," she said heartily, "I think the two of us should eat this delicious looking breakfast and then head to class. What do you think, Himemiya?"

Himemiya smiled. "Of course, Utena-sama."

On a whim, Utena placed her hand over Himemiya's, and when their fingers intertwined, she refused to feel weird about it. She wasn't going to let some stupid dream come between them. And if Himemiya's smile grew just a little bit softer and her eyes just a little bit brighter, then that was good too.


End file.
